I'm surprised the lack of enthusiasm for the 500 Caddy considering everything they have to offer. what most don't realize. they may look massive and heavy and boat anchor reputation, first your starting with 500 cubic inches, with a alum intake they weigh about 100 lbs heavier than a small block Chevy, in a mild rebuild form it's a easy 425/450 hp motor. Enough torque to twist your frame, all with a stock bottom end. no wild cam,high stall speed converter,no overheating, I can go on and on. I've used them in three of my builds and will use them again in my 48 dodge pickup.Something to consider, Just saying'
had a low mile 30,000 , 500 caddy years ago....moved to Texas and sold it....want it back...I'd put it my 50 Desoto in a heartbeat,,,,
More like twisting the earth on a different axis...... I had one in a '74 Sedan De' Ville.. To bad I had to scrap it because of a rear end collision...
I read an article, someone put one in a stock car, maybe an IMCA modified. They were quite happy with it.
It may have more to do with when Cadillac introduced the 500 (I believe 1970). This site catering to the '65 and earlier vintage....it may not be "lack of enthusiasm" for them, but rather respect for the guidelines of this site to mention them here (albeit fine line, as newer than '65 engines often get used on our "HAMB friendly" cars). I'd use one.
I’ve got one. Does ok. Not overly impressed I’ve got a 68 472 that runs great. Using a 283 in my latest build. Just wasn’t worth the effort to fit in my worthless opinion. Plus doesn’t fit the era I was after. I got the 472 from a guy doing an LS swap in a caddy. Kinda seems like a downgrade vs a big caddy in that ride. I think they’re great engines. They are kinda ugly.
Caddy engines are kind of enigma for me. The big 472/500 motors certainly have some pluses, but the lack of aftermarket support makes them a little harder for me to consider. Maybe if I had a big Buick or Packard or something like that, but for the cubic inches the big block Chevy is just easier. I have a 4.9 Cad aluminum engine I've been staring at for months and it's same issue. It has a lot of features that would make it a good engine for a light car, but it looks odd and there is very little available to juice it up. Not sure I'll get around to using it on anything.
I have a '73 model Cad motor and a Mopar big block RB motor, both ran when pulled. Really on the fence about which one to put in my '55 Chevy 2-door sedan. Leaning towards the BB Mopar because of the aftermarket support and that's what I'm used to. Some guys will be upset, but that what I have, and that's what hot rodders do.
I'm still in the middle of getting things worked out putting one in my 71 GMC 3/4 ton as my tow rig / haul or drag the other stuff truck. This one came out of a 75 ambulance that my buddy had and scrapped out because the body was too roached out to be any good. All I am doing to it is putting on an Edelbrock intake and some stainless headers that I picked up on Ebay. I had to swap pans to get it to fit and just like swapping Ford ohv engines that is an issue. The good is lots of torque and plenty of horse power and reasonable gas mileage if you drive with a degree of sanity. The bad is that they are hell for wide. URL=https://hosting.photobucket.com/ima...ot_(1061).png?width=960&height=720&fit=bounds][/URL] You Can see here that on a 60 and up to 87 C 10 or 20 frame the exhaust is out over the frame rails. Then on a lot of rigs there is that oil filter right in the big middle of the way. On one of my trips to Bonneville I ran into a guy who had a 500 Cad in what started out as a flathood Jeep C-J. Kind of a well built rat rod with no rat rod crap with a hot rod tube chassis, the engine and the Jeep tub and I think a roll bar that held one of those Jeep bikini tops that used to be popular with the CJ guys. I won't quote his speed claims but he said he had been burning up the highway with it.
Wife told me to put a 302 ford in her 56 Chevy if i wanted to. Just pulled a low mile one with a WC 5 speed She could care less what makes it go hmmmmmmmm
I don't know about now but back in the 80's a lot of the regulars who raced every week at the Woodburn oregon drag strip had 440 Mopars in anything and everything and those buggers were fast for what they were. They weren't fancy either, Junk yard engine, purple stripe cam and aluminum intake and headers and go.
I have a pair of 500's in the shop, figure that they must be good for something, someday. Of course, sitting next to them are numerous B&RB pieces and as noted above, they also make gobs of torque and propel metal boxes quite well. The front mounted dizzy is handy and torque IS your friend.
https://cad500parts.com/ this company has EVERYTHING you could possibly want or need for your caddy, they're not cheap,quality stuff
There are lots of reasons to like the 472/500 Cadillac.. For a big block style engine its pretty light. Much lighter than a BB Chevy and if you change from the cast iron intake to an aluminum intake ....replace the cast iron ex manifolds with shorty headers, this may be the lightest cast iron big block around. You can pick up a reasonably low mileage one thats been sitting for about $500 often with the usable transmission. These engines were designed to pull heavy cars effortlessly, so don't expect high rpm HP. About 5000 rpm is max with the stock stuff. The beauty of it is you can buy one and hone the cylinders a little without boring ......or buy some new cast or hyeutectic pistons and increase the LOW compression ratio. You can find sets of pistons for about $300 on Ebay or step up to something that costs more. The typical things that most rodders do to engines work very well here. The OEM cam and rocker arm assemblies are where they aren't hot rod material. Upgrade the cam and valve springs and install adjustable roller rockers........that's a must. Do your own pocket porting and even if you use the low compression you will easily exceed 400 HP and have 500 lbs/ft of torque all thru the rpm range. Torque is your friend, especially if you convert it to HP up top with a few easy mods. There is a company in Illinois that has gone under several name changes and screwed people. I'd stay away from them. There is another company (CadCo) in Arizona that has lots of info and gives good service. If you are interested in a Cad, the first thing to do is to obtain their catalog. It will give you all the information on building these engines and offer you the parts you need. Here is an actual measurement of a Cad engine I have. I shoved two uprights against the manifolds to measure width. Note that the very bottom of the manifolds do turn out some more. The point here is that it's a good starting point for a really decent street engine. You will have a sh**load of torque at all rpms which makes for a very driveable street vehicle. No need to be downshifting unless you want to. Yes, you can adapt a manual transmission to it but it better be a strong one. A mild build should give you 425/450 HP without any ill manners of a peaky underdisplaced engine. Step up a little more and you can get 500 HP......and you will still have a broad rpm range. On the other hand don't expect it to act like a performance engine if you leave the limosene cam and valve train in it.
Front mount distributor engines are always a wise choice. 400 horses (being realistic/conservative here) in stock form is nothing to sneeze at, but those outward turning exhaust manifold outlets are super inconvenient...but that can be rectified with headers. Is Larry ????? in Florida (??) still the guru of performance Cadillac stuff? Maybe not anymore, been 20+ years since I read that. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/finding-cadillac-parts.298882/
That first drawing made me dizzy. I would give one a shot, if they were more prevalent around here. I haven't seen any in a long time.
They're not hot rod material and hate being revved past 4500 RPM. They're definitely a good torque engine. They're popular with airboat guys. I'm not gonna lie, I want a 500 Caddy in a truck! All the torque will be nice.
I think they look pretty nice myself.............. Maybe remove the distributor and run a crank trigger with coils below the headers and plug wires rising up from below. It doesn't look any worse than any other engine if you dress it properly. How can you not love a face like that ? Note: The CadCo site has a repository of magazine articles and videos on these engines to bring knowledge about them to one central location.....and its all FREE for your enjoyment. (16) CADILLAC 472/500 | Groups | Facebook
Yes, but they do respond to modifications........see video below www.facebook.com/reel/923001422717589
I had a 500 cad in a 63 Chevy short box step side truck It was a lot of fun . Drove it year around and rust got it! But I drove it many years!
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